Arabella Mansfield - A Commanding Presence, Barred From Law Practice, Susan B. Anthony, A First For Women

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Born May 23, 1846 (Burlington, Iowa)

Died August 1, 1911 (Aurora, Illinois)

Attorney, social activist

Arabella Mansfield sought equal opportunities for women in all aspects of U.S. society. She was an activist in the nineteenth century women's rights movement that spanned a range of issues from voting rights for women to the right of practicing law. As a result she became the first female lawyer in the United States. She passed the Iowa bar exam in 1869 and opened the way for other women to practice law. Within the year the Iowa legislature amended its statute to allow women and minorities to practice law in the state.

Although Mansfield never practiced law herself, she maintained her interest in legal proceedings and joined the National League of Women Lawyers in 1893, leading the way for others into careers in the law profession. A lifelong educator, Mansfield also campaigned for equal educational opportunities for women. She was inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 1980.

"The theory of this Government from the beginning has been perfect equality to all the people."

Arguments of the Woman-Suffrage Delegates to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary on January 24, 1880

Additional Topics

Belle Aurelia Babb was born on the family farm near Burlington, Iowa, in 1846 and was called Belle by her family and friends. She was the second child born to Mary Moyer and Miles Babb. Her brother, Washington Irving Babb, was born two years earlier and would be her lifelong friend. When the children were young their father left Iowa to follow the gold rush to California. He became superintendent …

The opening of colleges to women in the nineteenth century was not without controversy. Much debate existed over the place of higher education in women's lives. Women were seen as physically and mentally inferior to men in traditional education, including the study of law. Prior to 1900, the most common way for anyone to study law was as an apprentice or clerk to a practicing attorney. Afte…

Susan Brownell Anthony (1820–1906) was not only a famous activist for women's suffrage (voting rights) but a famous criminal defendant in her pursuit of the cause. She was an educator in upstate New York when she became convinced of the need to work for women's rights full time. She resigned from her job and began volunteering in temperance societies, to help women and childre…

Mansfield continued her academic career at Iowa Wesleyan. Belle earned a master's degree in 1870 and a bachelor of laws (LLB) degree in 1872 from the same institution. She was a charter member of the Iowa Woman Suffrage Society whose convention met in Mount Pleasant in 1870. Using her law degree as a badge of respect, Mansfield went on the lecture circuit for the Iowa Peace Society, speakin…

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